The present invention relates to an arrangement for storing pallets used for holding material, particularly for storing long material. A plurality of shelves are located and fixed next to one another and are accessible from at least one broad side via a loading and removal device which travels transversely to the shelves. A plurality of stacked compartments (bins) accommodate the pallets.
The loading and removal of pallets into and from such storage arrangements has been accomplished in the past by means of an overhead or gantry crane which travels transversely to the shelves and is equipped with a loading and removal device which can be lowered into the passage enclosed by the accessible lengthwise side of two successive shelves (German Laid-Open Document No. 2 164 444). During the storage of pallets, the palletreadied at a broad or face side of the storage bin is lifted by the crane to a level above the shelves, and is moved by the crane above the shelves up to the passageway where the shelf is located in which the pallet is to be stored. The pallet is then lowered in the passageway to the level of the bin where the pallet is to be stored, and the pallet is then moved into the assigned bin. The removal of pallets from the storage is done in the opposite order sequence.
The loading and removal process during which the pallets must be lifted above the shelves is time-consuming. In addition, overhead or gantry cranes require space, at the expense of storage capacity.
It has already been proposed to move stored items underneath upright shelves with a separate transport device into the passageway from which the shelf and particularly the bin where the stored item is to be deposited is accessible, and to lift the stored item with a separate lifting hoist installed above the passageway to the level of the bin where it is to be stored, and into which it is then deposited (German Laid-Open Document No. 2 311 762). This approach also requires overhead space at the expense of storage capacity. Furthermore, additional equipment for loading and removal of loads from the transport equipment traveling underneath the shelves is required outside the storage arrangement.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide arrangements of the above type so that the stored item can be transferred more quickly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an enormous reduction of warehousing costs.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement which is substantially simple in construction and may be economically fabricated.